Columns

We must have seen the end of summer, because we’ve had three days of overcastskies, cool temperatures and rainy skies. That sounds like fall to me, and I thought it was, until our daughter and her cousin out in Minnesota complained via Facebook that it’s way hot out there in the flatlands. They have been talking about 90s and heat advisories the last few days.

You’ve probably heard the theoretical scenario offered by many a macho boyfriend, beleaguered husband or bitter ex. You know the one: “Lock your dog and your wife in the trunk and see which one is happiest to see you when you let them out.” Now, I would never condone locking either in your trunk, except in rare cases of saving ticket money by sneaking loved ones into a drive-in movie.

It was during an assignment for Field and Stream magazine a few years back when Survival and Outdoors Skills Editor Keith McCafferty decided to finally write that novel he never quite got around to starting.

Even when one has led an exemplary life — gone to church, loved his mother, befriended strangers with leprosy — one (me as an example) occasionally stares into the rear-view mirror of a life and feels a certain shame. Whether an unkind word, a cruel prank, or an armed robbery, sad regret can set in.